Sacred Foods: The Profound Meaning of Corn

By Catherine Marenghi

A woman newly arrived in San Miguel shared a complaint on Facebook: She had sampled her first ear of local corn, and she bitterly proclaimed, “Mexican corn is terrible!” To say her statement was sacrilegious would be an understatement. After all, corn is one of the sacred foods of México. It was first cultivated in México thousands of years ago, producing hundreds of varieties, of which this woman had tasted only one. Corn is integral not only to Mexican cuisine, but to its cultural and spiritual traditions – including the belief that the gods fashioned the first humans out of corn!

Rooted in México

Corn was first cultivated from the wild grass teosinte in the lowlands of México some 10,000 years ago. More than a dietary staple, it was a sacred gift from the gods, shaping mythology and social structure. Corn has been continuously modified over the years to make it bigger and more nutritious, resulting in hundreds of varieties, sizes and colors, ranging from white to yellow, brown and black.

Early Mesoamericans grew corn alongside beans and squash, a practice known as the milpa. These farmers knew that the “three sisters” symbiotically nourish each other. Corn provides structure for beans to climb, beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the broad squash leaves shade the ground, preventing weeds and retaining moisture.

Few people know the story of corn better than Master Chef Adriana Vanessa Domínguez. Vanessa specializes in regional and indigenous Mexican cuisine, with more than 20 years’ experience in gastronomy.

She created “Moles con Historia,” a line of moles and gourmet sauces; and “Un Bocado de Historia” (a bite of history) which features gastronomic tours and cooking classes for foreigners.

Vanessa is the author of a recipe book, “El Corazón en un Bocado” (the heart in a bite), published in 2020. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from UNAM’s National School of Social Work, and she is an active member of the UNAM civil movement Sin Maíz, No Hay País (without corn, there is no country). Recently Vanessa was also honored as the guest chef for the San Miguel Writers’ Conference’s Annual Patron Dinner, where she served such traditional dishes as chicken baked in clay. She points out that Mexican food is the intersection of two different cultures: the Spanish colonizers and indigenous people: “The refinement and majesty of pre-Hispanic cuisine together with aromatic European products and spices have made Mexican cuisine famous and admired all over the world.”

Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Hernán Cortés and Salvador Novo chronicled the imperial banquets of indigenous people and the richness of their cuisine. In turn, the Spaniards contributed new foods and culinary customs, including beef, pork, chicken, eggs and dairy products.

“Our indigenous ancestors had a deep respect for nature,”  Vanessa noted. “The animals, plants, flowers, mushrooms, and insects they consumed were not just products, but food for the body and soul, deeply imbued with ancient histories and myths.”

In México, the Spaniards found a wide range of native products such as vanilla, beans, camote (sweet potato), mesquite, xoconostle (a cactus fruit), achiote (a chili pepper), quelites (wild greens), huazontle (native pumpkin), coyameti and tepezcuintle (types of native squash), and – of course – corn.

They also observed stone metates, used to grind maize. Metates were first used in México between 5000 and 3000 BC. Metates are still used, especially in rural México, to grind nixtamalized corn (which has been cooked in lime water) for tortillas. Tamales, tortillas, salsas, pozoles, atoles, and other corn preparations with corn are a direct and ancient inheritance.

The Origin Story

According to the Popol Vuh, the sacred compendium of Mayan myths, feathered deities rose from primordial waters to create the Earth, plants and animals. Then they created human beings, first using clay, then wood. But these first humans had no souls, so they were destroyed.

Hero Twin gods defeated the Lords of the Underworld in a ball game, allowing their slain father to come back to life as the Maize God. The Hero Twins climbed to the surface of the Earth and into the sky, becoming the Sun and Moon. Now that the Sun and Moon illuminated the Earth, the deities created human beings using white and yellow corn.

More than food, corn was a sacred gift from the gods, the essence of life itself.

Catherine Marenghi is the author of five books and active in the San Miguel literary community.

www.marenghi.com

Learn more about Master Chef Vanessa Domínguez at

www.unbocadodehistoria.com